Lynn’s Katie Burt may have put her baseball-playing days on the back burner to focus on ice hockey, but the Boston College goalie never stopped loving the game.
Not only will the two-time Wyoma Little League and three-time Babe Ruth baseball all-star be throwing out the first pitch at the North Shore Navigators home opener Saturday, as a Boston Red Sox ball girl she can also be found sitting on a bucket along the first base or third base line at Fenway Park, ready to round up any foul balls that come her way.
Burt is coming off a whirlwind of a freshman year at The Heights. After foregoing her senior year at Buckingham, Brown and Nichols to start BC early, the 18-year old quickly established herself as one of the top goalies in the nation on one of the top teams in the nation. She finished her freshman season with a 1.11 goals against average, which was the best in the country, and she had a record of 30-3-2. Burt also played a big role in leading the United States National Under-18 women’s hockey team to a gold medal at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship this past winter.
“You definitely have to be on your toes,” Burt said about her unique summer job. “I love it. It’s awesome. Being at Fenway is a great experience. I really enjoy getting to interact with the fans … it’s the best seat in the house.”
Burt said the Red Sox ball girl job came about after the Boston Globe ran an article her hockey that also got into how she played baseball rather than softball growing up. She said one of the ball girls read it and circulated the article around. They contacted her coach at BC and that got the ball rolling.
Burt said there are eight ball girls and two work each game. They’re scheduled monthly based on their availabilitly. Burt said she has worked about five games so far. There is one girl on each baseline and after the top of the fifth inning, they switch sides. Burt said most of the ball girls tend to be college softball players or girls who have played a sport at college.
“Interacting with the fans is a huge part of being a ball girl,” Burt said, noting that sometimes nothing
Burt said she wished she had been able to play baseball at BB&N, but the school wouldn’t allow it. She played softball for three years and her team did very well.
“I do miss baseball,” Burt said. “Even when I was playing softball I missed baseball. I missed the friendships I had made with my teammates.”
Burt has a busy summer ahead of her. In addition to working out for the upcoming season, she’ll be doing some camps and taking a summer class at BC beginning in a few weeks. The class will take up four nights a week (rather than the usual two) and as a result, her availability as a ball girl will be limited during that stretch.
“I’ll be taking a year’s worth of Spanish this summer,” she said.
Burt said she’s very excited to be throwing out the first pitch at the Navigators game Saturday night. “Katie Burt is the perfect person to throw out the first pitch,” Navigators General Manager Bill Terlecky said. “Katie grew up in the city participating in youth sports and through her hard work and talent, she has been able to take her talents to the next level. We and the rest of the city are extremely proud of her accomplishments.”
The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tickets are still available for the game.